Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform the House which communities currently enjoy access to the Telehealth system?

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it would appear that Fort Smith and Inuvik have had pilot projects in the area of Telehealth, and so I would suggest those are two communities which must have the capacity under the digital communications network to receive those services at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fort Smith and Inuvik... I am guessing, but I am pretty sure they have doctors in those communities. I wonder when the department plans to test Telehealth in a community that only has nurses. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we meet to discuss this, we will talk about the capital investment that will be required to put the infrastructure in place to do this.

There are certain types of services that could be acquired by Telehealth that do not require the same amount of technology as others. For example, counselling services is one area where you do not need the amount of equipment as you would for other types of medicine services. I could not tell you exactly when we could do this. We will have to look at what kind of capital investment would be required and discuss it with the Social Programs Committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my statement today, I was pleased to hear that the government had signed a deal with the Alberta Medical Association on local replacements for doctors outside of Yellowknife. I think this is an important deal for the people of the Northwest Territories. It helps to ensure their health and safety, as well as providing doctors with opportunities to get extra training and to take vacations.

However, I noted, Mr. Speaker, this deal does nothing for the doctor shortage being experienced in Yellowknife. If a doctor in Yellowknife goes on holiday or decides to take extra training, his load has to be picked up by one of his or her already overworked colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister is what can we expect the department to do? What is the department doing in the next few weeks, the next few months to deal with the doctor shortage in Yellowknife?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could be corrected, but I do not believe the agreement with the Alberta Medical Association for the provision of local physician services is limited to communities outside of Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure if that was an answer or another question. My understanding is that the locum arrangement only deals with positions outside of Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I will ask the Minister again: what in particular is she planning to do to address the position shortage in Yellowknife in the next few weeks or months? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the local positions and the agreement we have with the Alberta government will provide temporary relief for the physician shortage in Yellowknife.

The Northwest Territories Medical Association position is that only 14 of the required 26 positions are in residence in Yellowknife at this time. Although the number of actual practicing physicians does exceed 14, due to the number of part-time positions.

Mr. Speaker, the department has had consultation with several professional associations and, in conjunction with looking at payment methods for positions, is considering addressing the physician shortage through an alternative primary care model, where the boards could employ the services of nurse-practitioners, nurses with credentials similar to those in the small communities, community health nurses who have a broader range of education. Also, having a pilot project whereby we could, for now, temporarily alleviate the physician shortage by having patients see a nurse as their first point of contact as opposed to a physician. Then, critical cases could be referred onto the emergency services if required. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds to me that the Minister is referring to what we have heard and referred to in the past as the Nurse-Practitioner Plan. I think she knows the Members on the Standing Committee on Social Programs are in support of that process, and we encourage the government to pursue that course of action.

But, Mr. Speaker, we also know that is going to take a considerable length of time to implement. What is the Minister going to do now to deal with the shortage of doctors in Yellowknife? We still have not heard the answer to that question, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the immediate and temporary solution is going to be the use of local positions from the Alberta pool of locum positions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Final supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, we have been given the understanding that the deal with the Alberta Medical Association did not cover Yellowknife. I am pleased that it apparently now does. Could the Minister advise us when will she provide us with a timetable for the implementation of the nurse-practitioner model in the larger centres in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I realize that this is a pressing issue and I am as interested in finding a solution as anyone is. I have extended the invitation to the Social Programs Committee to meet to discuss how we might expedite and bring this particular primary care model into existence in Yellowknife.

The department has done a lot of the background work and a lot of the consultations that needed to go on. I cannot say exactly when it will come into existence. Let me say that it is a priority. I will be looking to the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their assistance in this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.